Wednesday, March 26, 2008

You are officially CHALLENGED!





Hey Girls! I'm so excited to pick April's bookclub Challenge! I have loved reading your NF reviews and have put several on my "must read" list. And now it's time for a complete switch of gears....

Get your buns to the nearest Barnes and Noble and pick up a Science Fiction book!

WAIT! I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING! But I promise you that there is a Sci/Fi Fan inside you just DYING to come out! Look - you all like "Star Wars" - right?

Here's the thing. If I issued a "John Grisham Challenge" you would mosey over to your bookshelf, pick from the myriad of lovely law-thrillers, and two hours later you would finish the last page and say "Mmmm. That was a goodie." But you would not have grown as a reader! I think the word CHALLENGE should be taken literally - participating in it should make you stretch and evolve and experience something new! Trust me on this, ladies. There are many many Sci-Fi novels out there that will open your eyes anew to the world around you. Here's a list of my faves...

SOFT-CORE SCI-FI:

"The Illustrated Man" by Ray Bradbury*** (the best intro. to this genre for you sci-fi virgins)
"Farenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card (this entire series is excellent)
"The Alliance" by Gerald Lund (that's right "Work and Glory" author!)
"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy (an Oprah book)
"Contact" by Carl Sagan
"Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. Owen (won awards for YA lit.)
"The Giver" by Lois Lowry (Newberry medal winner)
"Jumper" by Steven Gould (have only seen the movie so can't vouch for book content)

THE HARD STUFF (for the true sci-fi experience):

"The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
"The Worthing Saga" by Orson Scott Card (my all time favorite)
"1984" by George Orwell
"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
"The Robots of Dawn" by Isaac Asimov
"Foundation" by Isaac Asimov (hailed as the best sci-fi series in existence)
"Out of the Silent Planet" by CS Lewis
"Childhood's End" by Arthur C. Clarke

I'm leaving out so many...anything by any of the authors mentioned above is going to be quality stuff so explore and be adventurous!

If you won't do it for me, do it for Han Solo, Ok? :)

6 comments:

TLC said...

And I thought the March challenge was hard, This is going to be even harder! But, I accept and look forward into seeing what book I can find-Anything that will keep me longer in Book A Million makes me happy!

Emily said...

This is going to be hard! I have never read a sci-fi book, or honestly wanted to...but, I am game. I'm excited to try something new, thanks for the suggestions, I'll need them!

Andrea said...

Yes!!!Lauren you are pushing me to new levels and I love it. I am DEFINITELY IN!!!

amandamenghini said...

This will be a good warm up since the Host is coming out in may and I'm still a little hesitant about the whole 'science fiction' thing.

lynsey said...

ladies, read "ender's game"...i HATE sci-fi but loved this book & ended up (gasp!) reading the sequel! it was just as good & i was amazed at what the author could do in "ender's shadow." read it & you'll know what i'm talking about.


lauren: you had me at han solo.

Eyepoke said...

Contact as soft core?! offended.